Serena Williams’ long-awaited return began in the humble, quiet setting of a private tennis club in Eastbourne. After arriving in the UK a few days after announcing his return to tennis, Williams opted to keep a low profile. He remained out of place even when the tournament began. She refused to hold a single press conference.
While training with Frances Tiafoe on Sunday at the Meads Tennis Club, his first spectators were passers-by who happened to be watching the club from the mountain road and, to his audible surprise, saw one of the most famous athletes in the world. the world looking at them.
On Tuesday afternoon, Williams finally entered Eastbourne International and, alongside Ons Jabeur, made a winning return in his first game after a year of dismissal. After a rusty start, the pair recovered from a set and a break to defeat Marie Bouzkova and Sara Sorribes Tormo by 2-6, 6-3, 13-11.
It wasn’t until Tuesday afternoon that Williams and Jabeur met as partners and trained together for the first time and it was seen. Aspects of Williams’ game naturally turned to rust after such a long layoff and Jabeur, in the individual form of his life, is less secure on the doubles track. His solid and assertive opponents crushed them at first. But as the game went on, Williams steadily improved. His service increased to the maximum and those small essential steps around the ball returned.
After a break, Williams served the second set with a vintage play. He first uncovered an angled backhand that won the passing shot as he fled, scoring his shot with an elongated growl, then closed the door with a cold-blooded ace.
By the time the tiebreaker started, Williams had woken up and she was rock solid from the bottom line, but it was Jabeur who got to the decisive point, getting a spectacular winning drop shot to lift the match point, and the crowd stood up, before taking her. . As they celebrated, Jabeur and Williams pointed at each other, begging the crowd to dive in.
“It was a lot of fun,” Jabeur said. “I was nervous before playing with a legend like that, it made me feel good on the court, even when I was wrong, it encouraged me.”
Katie Boulter surprised Karolina Pliskova, who was runner-up at Wimbledon 2021. Photo: Mike Hewitt / Getty Images
This is a step forward for Williams, but the future is still unclear. She has not competed for 51 weeks after falling in the first round of Wimbledon last year and injuring a hamstring, forcing her to retire from the tournament. For the past year, he has remained in the public eye, but his absence from the tour at the age of 40 has led many to wonder if he had competed for the last time.
Obviously, these thoughts have also been on his mind. “I literally take it one day at a time,” he said. “I really took my time with my hamstring injury, so I’m not making a lot of decisions after that.”
Presenting whether he would return completely on tour in 2023 if his body is healthy, his indecision about his future was clear. “I don’t know. I can’t answer that. I love tennis and I love playing, or else I wouldn’t be out here, would I? But I also love what I do off-court, what I’ve built with “Serena Ventures. It’s interesting, so it’s a lot.”
When he nursed his hamstrings and then broke away from the sport, Williams admitted there were times during the last year when he asked if he was still capable of playing: “It would be dishonest if I said I wasn’t. “Now my body feels really good. It’s double, I’m only playing half the court. I’ve been training a lot and I’m definitely feeling good.”
Sign up for The Recap, our weekly email with publisher choices.
He has returned to try another attempt at his 24th Grand Slam title. That was just the beginning, his first small steps back into the sport after such a long layoff, but we need to see where he is headed.
Tuesday was a tremendous day for British players in Eastbourne. Katie Boulter, a former top 100 player who is still trying to get back on track after several injuries, got the biggest victory of her career by defeating No. 7 Karolina Pliskova 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in reach the round of 16. No. 169 Jodie Burrage finished the day beating Paula Badosa, No. 4 in the world, 6-4, 6-3.
Meanwhile, Ryan Peniston continued his grass-breaking season with Holger Rune, the eighth seed, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1.